A HUMBLE workhorse it may be, but the David Brown tractor is an agricultural icon.

For the uninitiated the David Brown Tractor Club museum in Meltham is holding a series of open days for enthusiasts and the curious alike.

The museum, at the Spinksmire Mill site where David Brown built tractors for 50 years, is a rare gem.

The factory turned out tractors until its closure in 1988, and now the museum ensures its legacy lives on for a new generation.

The David Brown Tractor Club, set up to protect the brand’s heritage and history, is thought to be the only club of its kind in Europe to have such an extensive museum.

The museum in Huddersfield Road will throw open its doors to the public on seven more Sundays in 2012, May 20, June 24, August 19, September 23, October 21, November 25 and December 9.

The museum houses one of the first tractors built at Meltham in 1939, and the last to run off the production line, the 1594.

The 1594 is the museum’s pride and joy having been transported back from David Brown’s parent company J I Case in the United States.

The machine had been gathering dust at the firm’s HQ in Racine, Wisconsin, and the club paid for its carriage back to the UK.

Also among 18 tractors on display is a 900 model which came from the former agricultural engineering department at Huddersfield Technical College.

The idea for the museum came from club members some 10 years ago who felt they needed a permanent base to archive material and artefacts.

The introduction of the grey Ferguson Brown Model A in 1936, followed by the red VAK 1 in 1939, saw tractor production at Meltham which ran through to 1988.

For half a century David Brown was a huge name in the industry with many machines still in the fields today.

Part of the club’s work involves buying and selling parts to keep old machines running.

Some of the more unusual items on display in the museum include a certificate for The Queen’s Award to Industry, dated April 21 1974, signed by Harold Wilson, a David Brown silver cigarette case and a picture of a gleaming red and gold ‘Agrimaster’ tractor painted by the design department in November 1961.

The club started out at premises in Colne, Lancashire, in 2001 and quickly grew.

It eventually moved close to its spiritual home in Meltham and opened its current site in Spinksmire Mill in 2008.

The museum now wants to promote itself and club chairman Peter Murray said: “We hope people will come and take a look.

“The history of David Brown is fascinating.”

The open days run from 10am to 3pm and admission is free.

The May open day includes an auction of tractors and parts and a road run.